


Haven Short Fics

by YumeArashi



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background OT3 - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Multi, Shorts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-05-23 16:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 14,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6123217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumeArashi/pseuds/YumeArashi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Various short fics written for the Haven fandom, each chapter is a separate piece.    Mostly fluff and humor, but some serious pieces.  Any necessary warnings will be at the beginning of each piece.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What's in a Name?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Audrey finds out something interesting about Duke

Poking through the town hall’s records archive was no one’s idea of a good time, but this was one of those cases where Nathan and Audrey had to do it.

Duke had just been roped in as usual, and was complaining at regular and frequent intervals.

It was dull work until Audrey, flipping through birth certificates from 1975, suddenly laughed. “Seymour? No wonder everyone calls you Duke.”

Duke gave her a baffled look. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s right here on your birth certificate. Seymour Simon Crocker, born June 2nd 1975 at 2:11 AM, 5 lbs 10 oz, nineteen inches. So unless you have a twin running around that we don’t know about, we’ve found you out, Seymour,” Audrey grinned.

Duke frowned and walked over, staring down at the paper. Something in his face made Audrey’s laughter die away. “You didn’t know,” she realized.

Duke shook his head. “No one ever called me anything but Duke, not that I know of anyhow. By the time I was old enough to know my name, my parents probably didn’t even remember that was just a nickname. How about that, huh? Never even knew my own goddamn name.”

Audrey wrapped her arms around him. “Your name is Duke. That’s the person we know and love.”

Nathan nodded, coming over and resting a hand on his shoulder. “We can get it changed officially. You became your own person, a far better one than they set you up to be. You’re more than what they gave you. You don’t need this.” He gently pulled the paper from Duke’s hands and set it aside.

Audrey nodded, stretching up to kiss Duke’s cheek. “Come on, let’s go get lunch.”

Duke wrapped an arm around each of them, hugging them fiercely tight in silent gratitude. “Yeah, okay. Fuck that anyhow. Who wants to be Seymour?”


	2. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan and Duke debate the finer points of furniture acquisition

“You can’t just take stuff out of the trash!” Nathan was appalled. It was making Duke smug.

“It’s not in the trash, it’s sitting out on the curb, was probably put there just a few hours ago. It’s a perfectly good piece of furniture.”

“Did you even stop to think there’s a reason why they threw it away in the first place?”

“Sure. The reason is because they’re wasteful idiots. Strip it down, refinish it, maybe reinforce the joints and add some molding to cover that gash in the wood, it’ll be good as new. No different than Artie over at the secondhand store does – which is, I might add, where I happen to know you get _your_ furniture.”

“But he’s not pulling it out of the trash before he fixes it up!”

Duke gave him a slow and very evil grin. “No? You know that sofa you got from him a couple months back? I was with him when-”

“Not listening,” Nathan said loudly, turning and leaving.

Duke grinned at Audrey. “Ten bucks says he gets rid of that thing by the end of the week.”

“Are you crazy? I’m not taking that bet!” she laughed. “If it’s not out at the curb by the end of the day I’ll eat my hat. Was it even actually salvaged, or was it brand new?”

“Donated from some little-used waiting room, barely touched even before he reupholstered it. But I bet even if you tell Nate that he’ll still toss it. He’ll never be sure whether I’m lying or not, and he won’t risk that it might have been pulled out of the trash. A shame, really. Much too nice a sofa to go to waste.   I sure hope someone comes along and gives it a new home,” Duke smiled angelically.

**

Two weeks later, as Nathan was following Duke through the Rouge's stateroom, he stopped and stared.  "That's my couch.  Did you make up a story about my couch coming from the garbage just so you could have it?"

Duke grinned, his hands held up in a gesture of surrender.  "It's a _very_ nice couch.  But now you have an even nicer one brand new, so it's all good, right Nate?  Nate...  Shit!"

He ran.


	3. Big Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very young Duke and Nathan discuss their future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: implied child abuse

The grownups never knew where to look when Duke ran off, but Nathan did.

Sure enough, Duke was sitting looking out at the ocean. He didn’t get angry when Nathan came up behind him, so that meant he didn’t mind the company. Nathan sat down and waited. Sometimes Duke wanted to talk, sometimes not. Nathan understood not wanting to talk.

“I’m gonna have a boat someday,” Duke said quietly, after a long silence. “I’m gonna have a boat all my own and I’m gonna live on it and I’m gonna sail around the world and I’m never, never, _never_ coming back here.”

Nathan could understand that, too. “Will it be a sailboat?”

Duke considered that, the very important question distracting from his anger – and his fear. “No, I want something bigger. A big boat. I’ll fill it with treasure and be famous and rich and everyone will love me. And everyone will have to do what I say, and if I don’t like someone then I’ll just tell everyone they’re bad people and everyone will believe me and they’ll be thrown in jail forever and ever and I’ll never have to see them again.”

Nathan considered that. “Will you tell them I’m bad?”

“You’re not bad,” Duke muttered. “Maybe you could come too. But you gotta be awesome. Only awesome people will be allowed on my boat.”

“I can be awesome,” Nathan said earnestly. “I wanna come too.”

Duke gave him a considering look. “Mayyyyyyyybe. But you gotta prove yourself.”

“Name it,” Nathan puffed up.

Duke smiled, for the first time since Nathan had joined him. “You gotta put a frog in Miz Martin’s purse.”

“But she’s the _teacher!”_ Nathan was aghast.

“That’s the point!” Duke said. “Only someone really awesome could do that to a teacher. Come on, I dare you!”

“…Okay, fine, but you gotta help,” Nathan said reluctantly. A dare was a dare, after all.

“I’ll be lookout,” Duke said generously. “We can’t get caught. Getting caught’s not awesome.”

“And we’re awesome,” Nathan nodded eagerly.

“Yeah,” Duke gave his shoulder a gentle shove. “We’re awesome.”


	4. Laundry Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of domestic fluff for [serendipityxxi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipityxxi)

“C’mon, guys, we talked about this,” Audrey sighed, surveying her crumpled laundry with dismay.

Nathan looked sheepish, but Duke tried his most charming smile. “Audrey, you don’t need to worry so much about what you wear, you’d be gorgeous even in a potato sack.”

“I’m not going for gorgeous, I’m going for professional,” Audrey pointed out dryly, looking as stern as she could in the face of that winning grin.

“We’ll fix it,” Nathan said earnestly. “An hour in the dryer should get out the wrinkles.”

“That will shrink everything to half its size. And no, Duke, I am not going to allow you two to make all my clothes skin-tight for your benefit.”

“How about some of your clothes?” Duke bargained hopefully. “A few of your clothes? Just one outfit?”

Audrey ignored him. “What do you guys do about your own laundry? I can see Duke just dumping everything he owns in one load but Nathan, you need to look professional too, you must know how to do laundry.”

Nathan rubbed the back of his head. “Anything but socks and underwear goes to the dry cleaners,” he admitted. “Chief was never big on the finer points of domesticity, and I just kind of followed suit.”

“I like dumping everything in one load, it makes everything soft and comfy,” Duke protested. “And easy.”

Audrey’s face softened at the reminder that neither of her boys had really had anyone to teach them how to take care of themselves. She’d been in the same boat for a long time, picking up bits of knowledge here and there as best she could. It was a college roommate who had shown her how to do laundry properly. “Come on, you two. We’re starting from scratch, and I’m going to teach you both to do it properly so we can take turns. Fair’s fair, right?”

“Fair is Duke taking at least two turns for every one of ours, given the way he layers,” Nathan pointed out.

Duke rolled his eyes and asked Audrey, “Are you mad?”

“No, I’m not mad,” she smiled and ruffled his hair.

“Even about the bras?”

Audrey’s hand went still. “….What happened to the bras?”

Duke and Nathan exchanged a look, then nodded simultaneously. “Run.”

Audrey didn’t bother to give chase as they scrambled for the door. No need for that. They’d left the laundry, which meant she had access to all their underwear. She hummed to herself as she put in the next load, thinking of all the things she could do with that.


	5. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One possible explanation why Nathan never told Audrey that he recognized Duke in the photo of Lucy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: vague references to child abuse
> 
> set sometime between S1E4 and S1E9

Nathan mulled over the photocopy of the newspaper clipping, looking at the two familiar faces – Audrey’s face on a woman called Lucy Ripley, and eight year old Duke. He wasn’t surprised that Duke hadn’t spoken up about being in the photo. He liked Audrey, but there was that whole ‘I don’t talk to cops’ thing.

At first he hadn’t really worried about it. He hadn’t expected cooperation from Duke anyway, and Parker was FBI, she’d be able to find out what she needed easily enough. But now….now it was increasingly clear that Lucy Ripley was part of Haven’s mystery, and the more mysterious it was the more Audrey wanted to know. Which meant the more it mattered to Nathan. And given Duke’s increasing involvement and cooperation, and the way he looked at Audrey sometimes….well, Nathan figured maybe he’d be willing to reconsider his stance on talking to cops.

He slid into the bar stool just before closing at the Gull. Duke gave him a deeply suspicious look, but when Nathan ordered a beer he slid it over the counter and watched him sit peaceably with his drink. At least until the clock struck closing, at which point he came over to shoo out his unwelcome guest.  
  
“Clock says you’re done, pal.”

“Need a word.”

“You need a lot of words, judging by your vocabulary. Here’s five of them for you – I don’t care. Go away.”

“About Audrey.”

Duke scowled. “That’s not – you don’t get to do that. Just pull out that card every time to get me to do what you want.”

Nathan pulled out the photocopied clipping. Duke saw it and went very still. Nathan got up and headed for the back porch and Duke, scowling, followed him. He closed the doors so the closing staff wouldn’t hear, then turned to Nathan. “What about it, Wuornos?”

“She deserves to know.”

“No. Wait, let me rephrase – _hell_ no.”

“You disagree?”

“This isn’t about what Audrey deserves or wants or even needs, and you damn well know it!”

“Won’t kill you to say something.”

“It might kill _you_ , if you don’t let this go.”

“This is important to her. And she’s important to you, I can tell.”

Duke clenched a fist, then forced himself to open it again, striving for calm. Nathan wouldn’t even feel a punch, the bastard. “Did you ears go numb too? I said this isn’t about her.”

Nathan unclenched his jaw. He might not have felt a punch but the words had struck home. Duke always did know just how to hurt him. “Heard you just fine, Crocker. Just thought that for once you might actually not be a selfish ass, thought maybe somewhere deep down you were capable of putting someone else first. Shoulda known better.”

“Go to hell, Wuornos,” Duke growled, his lean frame tight with anger. “You of all people should know exactly why I don’t want to go dredging all that up. Or then again maybe not – you never did see what was right in front of your face, did you? You never understood a damn thing about my life. Some friend you were.”

Nathan couldn’t feel himself flinch, but he knew he had. “I saw more than you knew.”

“No you didn’t,” Duke’s anger bled out into tired bitterness. “You never would’ve done what you did, if you had. But what the hell do I know, I’m just a scumbag smuggler and you’re the golden boy of Haven PD. You obviously know best, so why not go telling other people’s secrets and letting loose nightmares, you self-righteous ass.”

Nathan hesitated. “Duke…”

Duke turned away, going back inside and pointedly locking the back door in Nathan’s face. Nathan sighed and headed back to his truck.

**

In the days that followed, Duke waited for Audrey to come flying at him demanding answers. But she never did, never asked, never said a word, never looked at him at him any differently. And since he knew she wouldn’t hesitate to do so, that could only mean she still didn’t know. Which meant Nathan had kept Duke’s secret after all. Had respected his wishes, in spite of everything. In spite of _Audrey_ , and what she obviously meant to him.

He was going to want to talk to Nathan about that, and soon. But for the moment, he had a birthday party to prepare for.


	6. When it's Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan tells Audrey and Duke about the first time his Trouble activated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: emotional trauma to a child
> 
> setting: happy-ever-after post-series AU

"What's something you've never told anyone?" Audrey asked her boys on impulse, late one night.  Nathan and Duke looked at one another, silently communicating, and after a moment Duke lay back and Nathan steeled himself.

"The first time the troubles came, the doctor who fixed my broken arm didn't know about the Troubles.  He kept talking about idiopathic neuropathy and congenital insensitivity to pain and how there was no cure for either and I got really scared.  When we went home I ran up to my room and cried.  My mom came up and sat with me and hugged me but I couldn't feel it, and I cried even more.  I kept thinking about I'd never feel her hug me again, I'd never feel my dad ruffle my hair again, I'd never feel the sun on my face or cool water going for a swim or breeze against my skin and I realized - even at that age - that I hadn't just lost those things forever, but there was gonna come a day when I couldn't even _remember_ them.  And I thought about how earlier, I'd felt all those things for the very last time but I hadn't _known_ it was the last time and I hadn't treasured them the way I should have, and now they were gone forever.  The Chief came in and told me to stop crying, I'd be okay, but I didn't believe him."

"Your dad was an asshole," Duke chipped in.  "Sorry to speak ill of the dead and all that shit, but he was."

Nathan gave him a crooked smile.  "I think at that moment Mom would have agreed with you.  She shooed him out and went back to hugging me.  She told me everything was going to be okay too, and I wanted to believe her, but I didn't see how it could.  I was too scared and angry and stuck on thinking about everything I'd lost."

By this point Audrey and Duke are on either side of him, hugging him close, silently reminding him that it _was_ okay now.  "We'll give it all back to you," Audrey said, quiet but determined.

Duke nodded.  "In the morning you're making a list, and we're making sure you get to feel every last thing on it.  Sun and water and breeze and everything else you can name."

Nathan hugged them close, kissing their foreheads tenderly.  Not for the first time, he wondered how he'd ever been lucky enough to have them.


	7. In the Finest Tradition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duke's reputation takes a hit

Looking between Audrey’s delighted grin and Nathan’s raised eyebrow, Duke knew that his reputation was never going to recover from this.

“It’s a tradition, okay? Since the earliest sailing times, ask anyone who knows boats and they’ll tell you,” he protested.

“I’m pretty sure I’d have heard about this particular tradition by now if that were true,” Audrey told him.

“Nathan, c’mon, back me up here,” Duke wheedled.

“Keeping cats on board as mousers to protect the food stores from vermin is one thing. Think you’re taking this a little far though.”

“But in the best of ways,” Audrey pulled out her phone to take some photos.

“Hey, c’mon now, don’t…”

Too late.

“Perfect,” Audrey showed it to Nathan.

“Yeah, yeah, mock away,” Duke grumbled. “When a cat trusts you enough to leave her newborn kittens asleep on your chest, you hold still. You’d have done the same – both of you.”

“He’s got a point,” Audrey mused. “I’m certainly not gonna deny it, and you kind of are a sucker for babies, human or otherwise.”

Nathan didn’t argue – no point, they’d never have believed him. And any protest would have been rendered completely invalid by his soft, delighted smile as he leaned over to pet the kittens.

Maybe, Duke thought, the hit to his reputation was worth it.


	8. The Dark Side Has Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan definitely doesn't like anything as geeky as Star Wars. Nope, nuh-uh, not even a little.

“He just doesn’t want to admit it,” Duke smirked.

“That has nothing to do with it. Star Wars is kid’s stuff,” Nathan huffed.

Duke gave Audrey a conspiratorial grin. “He’s secretly a huge geek. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”

“I am not – I was a kid, kids like dumb stuff.”

“Don’t let him fool you. He probably still has that secret stash of comic books under his bed. The Chief found ‘em when we were teenagers and said he’d rather they were Playboys.”

Audrey grinned. “Is that so?”

Nathan groaned.

Duke gave Nathan a lazy grin. “So I suppose if I said I’ve got three tickets to the midnight showing at that Portland theater with the armchair recliner seats, you’re not interested, hm? Might as well find someone else to give that third ticket him?” He waved the tickets in front of Nate’s nose.

Nathan gave him a long and highly unamused look – but in the end he took the ticket, muttering, “I hate you.”

“Cheer up,” Audrey told him, “I hear you can lift the armrests to make the armchairs into loveseats. If you get bored you can just enjoy the cuddling.”

Nathan couldn’t argue that it sounded pretty good.


	9. Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan introspective between S3 and S4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: dark, self harm, suicidal thoughts, passive suicide attempt, grieving

Nathan sat in the little attic of the truck stop and cleaned up the blood from his latest round as a punching bag.  Numb, everything was numb, and why couldn't his heart be as numb as his skin?  It should have been him, he should have died in the collapsing Barn, should have vanished.  Not because it would have been the noble thing to do, but because if he'd known, if he'd thought about being left behind, he'd have run after Audrey and Duke without hesitation.  It had been months and the initial grief and rage had gone from jagged agony to dully leaden, but they were still there, they were always there, there wasn't a waking moment - or often, a sleeping one - where guilt and sorrow and loss didn't weigh on him in a way that even responsibility for the safety of all Haven never had.  How his lungs could still breathe, how his heart could still beat under that weight was a mystery to him.  He just wanted it to stop.  He didn't take punches as penance, he did it because he wanted to hurt, desperately and fiercely and futilely.  He wanted to feel every blow, every bruise and bleed and broken bone, he wanted that pain to drown out the incessant empty howling in his heart.  He didn't deserve that, and he'd never get it, but he couldn't stop trying, all the same.  The best he could hope for, the most he deserved, was an ugly death.


	10. One-sentence fic set

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set of 50 prompts, one sentence fics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: forced mutism, use of foodstuffs in bed, grieving, implied bondage (not all in the same one obvs : )

#01 – Speak

There was a time when Nathan would have loved this Trouble, but now Duke’s forced, unnatural silence is deeply unsettling.

#02 – Touch

It’s no longer what he’s missing that Nathan regrets, but what he cannot give his lovers.

#03 – Memory

If she never has anything else she can be sure is real, she at least will never have to doubt her memories of the two of them.

#04 – Vanilla

Duke isn’t even halfway through his rant about how vanilla isn’t a ‘boring, nothing flavor’ before Audrey and Nathan can’t hide their laughter any longer.

#05 – Chocolate

“I’m thinking we put that enhanced sense of taste to good use…” Duke holds up the bottle of chocolate syrup with a wicked grin and a significant glance toward the bedroom door, and already Nathan is weak in the knees.

#06 - Ways and Means

There are some things Duke will never tell his lovers, times in his past when putting food in his stomach mattered more than morals or pride or dignity.

#07 – Belief

With a fierce determination that can shape reality to her will, Audrey refuses to believe in a world without all three of them.

#08 – Linger

Nathan sits at the end of the dock long after the Rouge has sailed out of sight, knowing it’s pointless to stay but remaining anyway.

#09 – Illuminance

As he’s enveloped in a bear hug, Duke muses that he wouldn’t have thought it possible for Nathan’s face to light up that way.

#10 – Ornament

Nathan thinks that the oversized and elaborately decorated Christmas tree on the deck of the Rouge is excessive, but Audrey – who can guess what Duke’s childhood Christmases were like - elbows him into keeping his opinion to himself.

#11 - _Coup de foudre_

Audrey has never wanted to fall in love at first sight – she’d rather build a warm, bright fire that will last than be struck by lightning that is there and gone again.

#12 – Archway

Sometimes an archway is just an archway – but in Haven that’s no safe bet.

#13 – Fate

Duke never understood why fate kept throwing him and Nathan into one another’s orbits despite everything – until they met Audrey, and everything fell into place.

#14 – Pulse

There are few sounds more comforting to Nathan than the steady beat of his lovers’ hearts.

#15 – Envelope

Duke wonders why he wastes the money on stamps – beautiful and exotic ones from Morocco, from Argentina, from Bangladesh – when he knows he’ll never mail Nathan those letters.

#16 – Cold

Cold is the absence of warmth, and it is something Nathan feels not with his skin but with his heart.

#17 – Need

Nestled between her boys, Audrey wondered how she’d lived her whole life not knowing how much she needed this.

#18 – Drunk

Nathan didn’t need to be drunk to kiss Duke, but it made for a good excuse.

#19 – Mask

The trouble with masks, Duke mused, was that when you wore one too long, you forgot what was underneath.

#20 – Rose

The image of Nathan with a rose against his lips was hard to forget – and Audrey put it to good use once his Trouble was gone.

#21 – Two

Whoever had said ‘two’s company but three’s a crowd’ clearly didn’t know what they were talking about, Audrey decided.

#22 – Fresh

Duke was surprised at how little effort it had taken to convince them to leave the newly untroubled Haven in the wake of the Rouge, but then perhaps it was understandable that they wanted a fresh start as much as he did.

#23 – Bribe

Audrey offered Dave the box of donuts from Rosemary’s, not above a little bribery to get what she wanted.

#24 – Error

Nathan considered whether to discourage Duke’s habit of gleefully pointing out any errors in the Herald to Dave and Vince, but their reaction was always too good to miss.

#25 – Appetite

Nathan had never been a picky eater as a child, but as the Teagues brothers had pointed out to Audrey, with only four senses left he had to make the most of them

#26 – Refrain

Duke still occasionally felt barbed comments rising to his lips, long habit prompting cruel words, but these days he swallowed them down and smiled at Nathan instead.

#27 – Family

“I would have helped,” Nathan tells Duke quietly, “you were there when I buried my family, you shouldn’t have had to do that alone.”

#28 – Grieve

“I know you would’ve, and I’d have appreciated it, I really would have, but I…..I didn’t want anyone there,” Duke tells him, and Nathan understands.

#29 – Vapor

Audrey ponders how to convince Homeland Security that the Haven police department needs gas masks – Canadian maple syrup smugglers armed with bioterror weapons?

#30 – Tea

“Just because I like coffee doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good cup of tea too, there nothing wrong with that,” Duke protests indignantly, to Nathan and Audrey’s matching smirks.

#31 – Medicine

“Oh my god Nathan, stop being a baby and just drink the stupid cough syrup, I don’t care how awful it tastes,” Audrey scolded in a tone of mixed affection, exasperation, and amusement.

#32 – Moth

Duke watched Audrey standing at the railing of the Grey Gull’s patio, moths dancing around her as they followed the light towards their deaths, and thought he knew how they felt.

#33 – Perfect

Audrey lay back on the deck of the Rouge, feeling the sun and sea breeze on her skin, hearing her lovers playfully arguing, and pitied those who don’t believe perfection can be found in this world.

#34 – Rope

“Only in Haven would a rope we were using for fun times in bed turn into a lifesaving necessity,” Audrey grunted as she pulled Duke to safety.

#35 – Wind

The day that Duke left Haven, he didn’t have a destination in mind – he simply set a course following the wind, because anywhere was better than here.

#36 – Crossroads

Nathan and Audrey both held their breath, all cards on the table and the offer extended, waiting for Duke’s reaction.

#37 – Summer

Duke had spent summers all around the world but he couldn’t deny there was something special about summer in Maine, the warmth and life all the more precious for how fleeting they were in the face of the long winters.

#38 – Candy

Audrey wouldn’t have guessed Nathan had a sweet tooth, the childish trait incongruous in the serious detective.

#39 – Photograph

Audrey flipped through the victim’s box of family photos, realizing suddenly that there was nothing like this for her – no photos of childhood or graduation or family, and no one to take or to treasure them.

#40 – Spoon

“Come on, say ahh,” Duke grinned teasingly, poking the spoon at Nathan’s unsmiling mouth.

#41 – Forest

It looked like any other patch of New England pine woods, but the residents of Haven knew better.

#42 – Mirror

Was it a trick of the light, or had she seen her reflection blink?

#43 – Smoke

“Hey, I’m not judging,” Audrey shrugged, “in fact I’m kind of surprised that _every_ house in Haven doesn’t have pot smoke drifting from every crack.”

#44 – Shine

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Duke smiled gallantly, “you could be wearing a potato sack and you’d still outshine everyone here.”

#45 – Balloon

Trouble defeated, Audrey slumped against the side of the Bronco and added balloons to her ever expanding list of things she’d never thought could be a threat.

#46 – Vine

“Come on, Nathan, if Haven’s gonna turn into a jungle then we should at least get to see you swinging from a vine with a Tarzan yell,” Duke grinned.

#47 – Butterfly

Nathan thought about Sarah and James and butterflies crushed under the heels of time travelers.

#48 – Gloves

They didn’t often kick Duke out of their crime scenes, but that joke about spanking the latex definitely merited it.

#49 – Venom

No matter how their words tore at each other, biting and full of venom, they always came back together.

#50 – Remain

Between the three of them hung words weighted with promise and love - ‘not going anywhere’.


	11. Firearms safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drabble courtesy of a line from Agent Carter, my dirty mind, and the encouragement of a friend : )

When Nathan and Audrey went in to get their annual law enforcement firearms recertification, Duke decided to take the marksmanship portion with them, just to keep them company (and to keep in practice).

"Come on you guys, we'll be late," Audrey poked her head back in the doorway of Duke's bedroom where the other two were getting dressed.

"We have time," Nathan said easily.  "Kiss for luck?"

Audrey smiled and gave each of them a lingering kiss.  "Do you need me to load your weapons for you too?" she added, with a wicked smile that made it clear the weapons she was referring to were not firearms.

Nathan and Duke looked at each other, then back at her.

"Just as long as you fire 'em off," Duke smirked.

Unsurprisingly, they were late for the test.


	12. Tangled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duke vs. his own bedclothes

“How did he even manage this?”  Audrey asked, looking down at Duke.

“Good question,” Nathan said.  The sleeping smuggler was so thoroughly tangled in his bedsheets – at least four different sheets and blankets from what they could see – that he was practically mummified.

“Think if we woke him, he’d startle and fall out of bed?” Nathan smirked.

“You’re so mean!” Audrey lightly thwapped his shoulder.

Duke shifted a little, a troubled expression crossing his face, tensing as the nightmare came back.  He tried to roll over, making a distressed sound when he found he couldn’t move.

“Hey, Duke, it’s okay, we’re here, you’re all right,” Audrey knelt beside the bed and stroked Duke’s cheek.  Nathan went around to the other side of the bed and began unwinding Duke’s long limbs from their cloth prison.

Duke sighed and relaxed again.  Even in the deepest grip of dreams, he knew them, knew he was safe with them.

Nathan pulled the last of the bedclothes free, and drew a light cotton sheet up over the lean body.  “Idiot had too many blankets, he always does this.  He knows he gets nightmares if he’s too hot when he sleeps, but he’s cold when he goes to bed so he bundles up anyway.”

Audrey smiled, wondering how Nathan had come by that particular bit of knowledge.  “Come on, let’s go upstairs and let him rest.  This can wait a while.”

Nathan hesitated, looking down at Duke as if he wanted to stay in case further comfort was needed.  But he nodded, and headed for the door.


	13. After All The Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A first meeting, a precious gift, a lasting memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for child abandonment and implied child abuse

Nathan looked up from his coloring book as his father came home, looking unusually grumpy and – what was far more interesting – shadowed by a boy about Nathan’s age.

“Garland, for dinner how do you feel about – “ Nathan’s mother came out of the kitchen and stopped short.  “Well hello there, sweetheart, what’s your name?”

The boy hung his head and mumbled.

“One of the uniforms picked him up down by the docks late this afternoon,” Garland explained.  “Says he doesn’t know his parent’s names or his address or phone number or anything.  We drove him around for a while but he says he didn’t see anything familiar, and no one’s reported a kid missing.  We’ll do a canvas tomorrow, someone has to know whose kid he is.”

“Poor thing, he can’t be more than four or five.  Of course you can’t leave him at the station all night,” she nodded.  She knelt by the obviously anxious child.  “Are you hungry?”

After a moment, he nodded hesitantly, tensing as if he wasn’t sure the response would be taken well.

“I thought so, you’ve had a big day.  Do you like mac and cheese and chicken nuggets?”

He nodded more eagerly this time, his stomach rumbling audibly.

“I’ll get your dinner ready right now.  Until then why don’t you go play with our son Nathan, he’s just about your age.” She pointed out where Nathan was peering curiously around the corner of the kitchen.

Nathan grinned.  “I got lotsa toys, c’mon!”

The boy glanced at Nathan’s mother, waiting for her encouraging nod to go over.  Nathan took his hand eagerly and tugged him off to the playroom.  “What’s your name?”

“…Duke.”

**

Late that night, a soft sound woke Nathan.  He set up and looked around.  Duke had been given Nathan’s bed while Nathan had a sleeping bag on the floor.  Nathan looked over the edge of the bed and found Duke curled up into a ball, crying quietly. 

“Did you have a bad dream?”

Duke flinched, looking at Nathan with startled, scared eyes.  Nathan patted him on the shoulder and went back to his sleeping bag.  He came back with a well-loved teddy bear that had clearly seen better days.  “This is Fuzzy Wuzzy.  He’s a bear, so he can chase the dream monsters away.  All you gotta do is hug him and you’re safe.  He always makes me feel better when I’m sad or scared.”

Duke warily took the teddy bear and wrapped his thin arms around it, hugging it tightly.  He looked less scared, but he still looked sad, so Nathan climbed into bed and hugged him.  “It’s okay now.  Wuzzy and me, we won’t let anything bad happen.”

Duke snuggled against him, the bear trapped between them. 

When Duke left with Garland in the morning the bear went with him, a gift from Nathan that had made his mother beam with pride.  Nathan had other bears, but clearly Duke needed Fuzzy Wuzzy.

**

Thirty-odd years later, Nathan was about to wake Duke up when he paused.  There on a shelf above the headboard was an ancient teddy bear, three stitches away from being loved to death.  He smiled slowly as he took it down, remembering.


	14. Invictus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A well-known poem holds great personal meaning for Duke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to explore this concept in two completely opposite ways - fluffy sap, and brutal angst. The angst-free version is first, so that people not in the mood to get punched in the gut by feels can quit while they're ahead : ) 
> 
> ****Angst version contains canon character death and spoilers for the entire series***

Angst-free

Nathan had known for a while what he wanted to get Duke for his birthday, but he hadn’t known whether Duke would like it.  He watched while Duke unwrapped it, nervously hopeful.  Duke’s eyes flicked over the framed poem – and he laughed softly.

Nathan died a little inside.

Seeing Nathan’s face, Duke shook his head.  “No, it’s not bad, I’m not laughing at you.  It’s just a coincidence,” he reassured Nate.  He pulled out his wallet and took a piece of paper from the billfold, so old that it was soft as cloth and practically falling apart at the creases.  The words were fading into illegibility, but Nathan could see they were the same as the beautiful calligraphy in the frame.

“I came across this our senior year of high school,” Duke said quietly.  "When the whole town was talking about that no-good Crocker kid and how he’d turn out just like the rest of the family, this meant everything to me.  I printed it out and kept it close ever since, a reminder for when things get bad that no matter what happens I still have a choice.”  He smiled warmly and leaned in to give Nathan a soft kiss.  “But yours looks much nicer, and will go on the wall of our bedroom.”

Nathan sighed in relief and kissed back, wrapping his arms around Duke and pulling him close.  “I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it.  And you.  And you know me very, very well.”

 

 

Out of the night that covers me,

     Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

     For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

     I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

     My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

     Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

     Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

     How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

     I am the captain of my soul.

\--

Invictus

By William Ernest Henley

 

 

 

 

Angsty

Gloria had given Nathan a sympathetic look and a pat on the shoulder along with the small bag of things Duke had had on him when he’d died.  Nathan brought it out to the Bronco to look though, driving out to the beach for privacy.  For all he had his sense of touch back, he’d never felt more numb. 

There wasn’t much.  The clothes Duke had been wearing, the lingering scent of him hitting Nathan like a fist in the gut.  The necklaces – Nathan put those around his own neck.  A wallet, which contained cash and several credit cards and driver’s licenses, none of which were in Duke’s own name.  Behind the bills there was a folded piece of paper, so old that it was soft as cloth and practically falling apart at the creases.  The words were fading into illegibility, but Nathan made himself read every one.  When he finished the poem, he hid his face in his hands and wept.

 

 

Out of the night that covers me,

     Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

     For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

     I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

     My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

     Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

     Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

     How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

     I am the captain of my soul.

\--

Invictus

By William Ernest Henley


	15. Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five times using handcuffs in the bedroom went badly - and one time it went very badly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by <http://roseveare-ish.tumblr.com/post/139717372739/duke-wakes-up-tied-to-his-goddamn-bed-and>
> 
> Tie-in gifs  
> <http://roseveare-ish.tumblr.com/post/142579825954/duke-is-like-it-took-me-an-hour-to-get-out-of>  
> <http://roseveare-ish.tumblr.com/post/142592892264/nathan-im-really-sorry-i-left-you-in-those>
> 
> Warnings for light bondage and a point where a character is not sure if consent was given (it was).

Duke in handcuffs, no established relationship

Duke woke up wondering why his arms ached.  His headache was no surprise, he’d been thoroughly drunk after all.  He couldn’t even remember who he’d gone to bed with, although he did remember it had been one of the best nights in his life.  A man, he knew that much – he felt pleasantly sore, and he recalled a hard muscular body and strong stubbled jaw, and a low voice that….was….very, very familiar.

He opened his eyes to see Nathan Wuornos asleep at his side, both of them naked as the day they were born.  Oh god, he was dead, Nathan was going to kill him.  And then possibly himself.  He tried to back away, but the reason for his aching arms because clear as the handcuffs prevented him from moving.

Handcuffs.  Right.  Duke was definitely not going to panic.

He checked for the key – damn, out of reach on the far bedside table.  He looked around for a paperclip, pin, anything he could use to get free.  Or their phones, though a call would risk waking Nathan.  But the only things in reach were bedclothes and furniture. 

Okay, if he couldn’t get out of the situation, could he talk his way out of it?  But there really wasn’t much you could say about waking up naked in bed with someone else, especially when you were handcuffed to the bedframe.  “This is not what it looks like” was definitely not going to cut it.

He was still trying to figure out what he could say when Nathan woke up.

Duke put on his best charming smile as Nathan stared.  “Hey, Nate, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal, that was, uh, some prank last night huh?”

Nathan obvious didn’t believe him, but what was more relevant at the moment was that his stare of confusion had taken on a new and very intense aspect.

“…Nathan?  You’re not mad, right?  I mean, we were both drunk as hell, and – ”

“You look good like that.”

Duke’s train of thought ground to a screeching halt.  “Uh…what?”

Nathan let his eyes trail down Duke’s body in very blatant look of appreciation.  “Think I’d like to try that again when I’m not drunk.  You game?”

Duke sputtered for a moment before managing to get out a “Hell yes!”

**

Duke in handcuffs, established relationship

Upon waking, Duke couldn’t decide which was worse, his hangover or his aching muscles.  He looked around, grateful that the shades were closed, and spotted the source of the latter discomfort.

“Wuornos, you jackass, you’d damn well better have that key handy!  We agreed you were gonna uncuff me when we were done!”

Nathan came in, grinning.  “Guess I forgot.”

“You’re a real funny guy, wiseass.  Gimme the key.”

“Oh, this key?” Nathan said innocently, holding it up.  Duke glared.  “I don’t know, what will you do for me if I do?”

“Nathan, so help me god, I will tell on you to Audrey.”

“No you won’t,” Nathan said confidently.  “So, how about I get to dictate dinner for the next two weeks, hm?”

“I don’t want to have pancakes for dinner for the next two weeks!”

“Guess you don’t want the key either.  Might as well just toss it in the bay.”

“You  _ wouldn’t _ .”

“Try me.”

“Fine, you asshole, pancakes for two weeks and I hope you get scurvy.”

Nathan came over and unlocked the handcuffs.  Duke hissed in pain as he was able to finally lower his arm.  “You’re a cocksucker, Wuornos.”

“Yeah, and you like it,” Nathan sat down beside him and massaged Duke’s shoulder.  “You know I wasn’t really going to leave you like that, right?”

“Mostly,” Duke sighed as the massage eased the cramped muscles.

“I really was going to uncuff you last night.  I must’ve fallen asleep before I remembered to,” Nathan said apologetically.

Duke shrugged with the uncramped shoulder.  “No surprise, we were both pretty drunk.”

“You can make whatever you want for dinner.  You know I love anything you cook.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, and don’t tempt me to come up with an exception.”

Nathan gave Duke a soft, coaxing kiss, massaging Duke’s temples to help with the headache.  “I’ll get you some water and aspirin.”

“You’ll stay right here and keep doing that,” Duke leaned against him.  “And yes, I forgive you.”

**

Nathan in handcuffs, no established relationship

Nathan woke and wondered why one arm was stretched up over his head.  That wasn’t a position he usually slept in.  He tried lowering his arm, and a jingle of metal accompanied his futile effort.  He looked up, and froze at the sight of handcuffs.  He looked over at the nightstand.  No key, damn it.  He rolled over and froze again.

Duke Crocker lay beside him, somehow looking entirely too pleased with himself even while sound asleep.  He was also stark naked, as was Nathan.

Nathan quickly looked away, trying not to think about Duke’s bare body laid out in the morning sun like a piece of art.  He slowly eased himself up into a sitting position.  The good news was, he found the key.  The bad news was, it was on the other nightstand.

He could probably reach – he was handcuffed to a horizontal bar, so he had some leeway.  But he would have to climb over Duke to get it.  He eased himself forward, hoping that Duke wouldn’t wake. 

The bar he was handcuffed to was low on the bed, meaning he couldn’t raise himself up enough to get more than a few inches of space between them.  The proximity left him very aware of Duke’s scent, spices and sea air and the sweat from last night.  He couldn’t remember much through the blur of alcohol but he could remember enough, and he didn’t need to feel to know he was probably getting hard. 

He was about three-quarters across and beginning to think that he might manage to pull this off when Duke’s arms went around him and pulled, closing those last few inches.

“G’morning babe,” Duke mumbled sleepily, his eyes still closed.

“…Babe?  Who do you think I am?” Nathan asked.

Duke’s eyes flew open and he tried to scramble away – impossible, pinned beneath the weight of the other man.

“Quit moving,” Nathan hissed.  Friction wasn’t going to help anything.

Duke held still.  A moment later, he grinned.  “You’re hard.”

“Biology,” Nathan grunted.  Duke still hadn’t let go of him.

“You sure that’s all?” Duke smirked.  “We had an awfully good time last night.”

“Let go.”

“Now you’re blushing.  You sure you don’t want to go another round?  We’re both here in bed, got nowhere to be.  And you said you really love the way I look when I’m getting off.”

“…Just this once.”

**

Nathan in handcuffs, established relationship

Nathan yawned as he woke and rolled over – or tried to.  He was pulled up short by the handcuffs around his wrist. 

“Good morning, sunshine,” Duke greeted him, way too cheerfully.

“This is revenge for the attempted hair dye, isn’t it?” Nathan sighed.  He’d known that slipping the bleach into Duke’s shampoo would earn significant reprisal, even though Duke had smelled the bleach and gotten suspicious before he could end up blond. 

“Maybe,” Duke said smugly.

“Duke, I have to work.”

“Audrey’s covering for you.”

“Seriously?  You’re leaving me handcuffed to the bed all day?”

“Not all day.  But you know, I do have an errand I need to go run.  Not sure how long it’ll take.  I left an empty water bottle on the nightstand in case you need to pee.”

“Not funny, Crocker,” Nathan growled.

“On the contrary, I find this highly amusing,” Duke laughed.  “Back in a bit!”

Nathan glared after him.

Fifteen minutes Duke reappeared in the doorway, a box of breakfast pastries from Rosemary’s under his arm.  He stopped short, then began to laugh.  “You really did use the bottle!”

**

Both in handcuffs, no established relationship

When Nathan first opened his eyes, he blinked lazily, then frowned and blinked again.  The picture in front of him didn’t change – Duke’s peacefully sleeping face, tousled hair, and bare chest.

Not a dream, then.  He looked down at himself, and saw he wasn’t wearing a shirt either.  He went to lift the cover to see if he was wearing anything (please let him have something, anything at all) but was brought up short.

He frowned and tugged harder.  Duke’s arm moved with his, drawing a sleepy whine of protest.  Nathan used his other hand to pull back the blankets to see what was going on.

Handcuffs.  And yes, they were naked.  Both of them.

How drunk had they  _ been _ ?

The key, he had to find the key.  Duke was never a morning person, if Nathan could find the key then maybe he could get free, get dressed, and be gone before Duke woke up.  And never have to think about this again.  (never mind that his memory was dredging up flashes of the previous night – the way Duke moaned, the way he  _ looked _ , and Nathan prayed he wasn’t getting hard all over again).

Thankfully the key was within reach on a nightstand on his side of the bed.  He grabbed it and rolled over – only to find Duke watching him with a wary expression.

Nathan couldn’t feel it, but he knew he was blushing to the roots of his hair.  He shoved the key in the cuffs and unlocked them, taking the cuffs and rolling out of bed to look for his clothes.

Still Duke said nothing, and Nathan found himself irritated by it,  “So you’re just not gonna say anything?”

“What do you want me to say, Nate?” Duke asked, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

“Something.  Anything.  I don’t know.  Just stop watching me like…like you think I’m gonna snap and start throwing punches.”

“Nate, for all I know you  _ are. _  Plenty of people regret falling into bed with someone drunk, even without the handcuffs.  And it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve been pissed enough with me to start throwing punches.”

The truth of that sat uncomfortably under Nathan’s skin.  Duke had bruises from the handcuffs, but there were bruises on his other wrist as well.  How rough had Nathan been?  Had Duke wanted him to stop him, tried to pull away and been unable?

Nathan felt sick.

“Hey,” Duke interrupted Nathan’s train of thoughts.  “You don’t remember last night, do you?”

Nathan shook his head mutely.

“Then let me tell you that you didn’t do anything I didn’t want.  Whatever happens now, we were both okay with it last night.”

Nathan felt like a massive weight lifted free of his chest.  “How did you know that’s what I was thinking?”

“Your face made it pretty damn obvious.  Look, if you want to leave now and forget this ever happened, you do that.  Whatever you think of me, I’m not gonna hold this over your head or keep reminding you of it.  There are lines I don’t cross, and that’s one of them.”

“Are you going to just forget it?” Nathan asked slowly.  “Can you?”

Duke considered him for a moment.  “Honestly, as long as it doesn’t affect you, I’m not sure my opinion on last night is really any of your business.”

Nathan supposed that was fair, but it still sat poorly with him, like unfinished business.

“Well.  Guess I’ll see you around then.”

Duke nodded.  “Until then.”

**

Both in handcuffs, established relationship

“Good, you’re awake,” was the first thing Duke heard when he woke up.

“Wha?” he replied eloquently.

Nathan poked at his shoulder.  “C’mon, wake up.  The key’s on your bedside table, I can’t reach it.”

Duke blinked at him for a moment, confused.  The key?

Then Nathan tugged on the handcuffs, jostling Duke’s arm, and he remembered.

He grinned at Nathan.  “Worth it, though.”

Nathan gave him a slow grin in return.  “Never claimed otherwise.  But I have to get to work.”

“Boring.  Sure you don’t want to stick around for round two?” Duke smirked.  “Not like anyone’s gonna complain if you’re a little late.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Nathan said, even as he leaned in for a long, deep kiss.

“Tease,” Duke sighed as they pulled apart, knowing that Nathan wouldn’t  _ really  _ blow off work for sex.  He rolled over and reached for the key.

Only to fumble it and have it drop to the floor.

“…You  _ didn’t _ .” Nathan said as Duke stared in horror.

“I, uh, I might have kind of dropped it but I’m sure I can reach,” Duke said quickly.

Five minutes later, they lay on the bed with resigned, irritated expressions.

“Whose idea was it to handcuff us to the bedframe?” Nathan asked.

“I don’t remember, I was too drunk,” Duke said.  He hadn’t actually been nearly that drunk, but since it had been his idea, he figured discretion was the better part of valor.  “Whose idea was it to use the real thing instead of the fun-time kind with the release?”

“I don’t know, I was just as drunk,” Nathan said.  Yeah, that had been his bright idea. 

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Duke sighed.

“We’re gonna have to call Audrey,” Nathan said glumly.

“She’s never gonna let us live it down,” Duke grimaced.

“Just don’t drop the phone, too.”

 


	16. Apparel Appeal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duke tries on Nathan's shirt. Nathan likes the look

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [set sometime in season 3]

It was very late Friday night aboard the Rouge, and Nathan and Duke were concluding what had become their regular poker game.  Both men were a little the worse for the bottle of whiskey they’d been passing back and forth, and were unsteady as they got to their feet.

“Keys,” Duke demanded of Nathan, holding out one hand to Nathan while using the other to cling to the table for stability.

“Need ‘em.  Not driving home but I need a place to sleep.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Duke reached into Nathan’s front pocket and took the keys, leaving Nathan’s jaw dropped.  “There’s a perfectly good couch in here, it’s too damn chilly to sleep in your car.  Besides, tourists will think you’re a hobo.”

Nathan glared blearily.  “Asshole.”

“Yeah, yeah, you know you love me.  Don’t forget to sleep on your side, I’m not saving you if you puke in your sleep.”

“You too,” Nathan muttered, curling up on the couch.

**

The next morning Nathan took a certain glee in getting up loudly, in spite of his own hangover.

Duke emerged from his room wrapped in a blanket, glaring.  “What the hell, Nate?  I gave you a place to sleep, could you maybe not be an asshole in return?”

“That was for the hobo comment.  Why are you wearing a blanket?”

“I sleep naked.  Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered,” Duke smirked.

Nathan grimaced, his cheeks flushing faintly.  “I had to ask.”

“I still look better than you,” Duke eyed him.  “You wanna borrow a shirt so people don’t think you’re doing the walk of shame?”

Nathan was torn.  On the one hand, the small-town rumor mill would love to assume that more had happened between them last night than a late night poker game with a little too much alcohol.  On the other hand…  “Do you even have anything I could wear that wouldn’t obviously be yours?  Because I don’t think that wearing one of your old man sweaters home will be any less damning.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” Duke snorted.  He went back into his room for a minute and emerged with a plain white button-down.  “Might be a little narrow in the shoulders on you, but I’m guessing you’ll live.”

Nathan nodded.  He pulled off his grey t-shirt and, with a smirk, dropped it on the floor.

Duke rolled his eyes, trying not to stare too obviously.  Nathan had grown up nice.  “I don’t have to give this to you, you know.”

“I’ll give you a free pass next time you earn a parking ticket.”

Duke grinned and handed the shirt over.  He’d wait until the end of Nathan’s shift some night, then park so he was blocking Nathan in and hide nearby – Nathan’s reaction would be priceless.

“Thanks,” Nathan pulled the shirt on.  It was indeed tight across the shoulders, and Duke admired the look.  “Bluefish special at the Gull today, right?  See you at lunch,” Nathan headed out.

**

Duke went to hop in the shower, snagging a pair of beat-up old jeans to put on after.  Now that he’d woken up, there’d be no getting back to sleep.  He took petty solace in the fact that Nathan’s hangover would have punished him for making such a racket.

He was heading to the kitchen afterwards when Nathan’s discarded shirt caught his eye.  He rolled his eyes and picked up it, contemplating evil things he could do with it.  It still smelled like Nathan, warm and musky, masculine and appealing.  Between his fingers the fabric was worn and very soft.  On impulse, he slid it over his head and chuckled a little – it was like getting a hug from Nathan.  Like that would ever happen.  He decided to wear it around the house as he made breakfast.  Maybe he could get some grease stains on it, he’d bet Nathan didn’t know how to clean those up.

“Hey, Duke, I forgot – ”  Nathan stopped in the doorway as Duke whirled around in a panic.

Nathan stared at Duke’s chest.  Duke looked down at Nathan’s t-shirt.  “Uh….I’d say ‘this isn’t what it looks like’ but….yeah, it’s pretty much exactly what it looks like.  Sorry?”

“If I ask why, am I going to regret asking?” Nathan said.  He looked oddly….intense.  There was a faint flush across his cheekbones that Duke had thought was embarrassment, but…surely that wasn’t arousal?

“It seemed like a good idea at the time?” Duke grinned sheepishly, rubbing his neck with one hand.

Nathan all but stalked over, something predatory in the way he moved, and Duke didn’t know whether to be nervous or excited.  “You like wearing my stuff?” Nathan asked, crowding into Duke’s personal space just a little.

Duke stammered.  There was no way he could possibly answer that that wouldn’t get him in trouble.

Nathan blatantly, unmistakably, gave Duke a once over look.  “Do you tease me deliberately, or do you honestly have no idea what you do to me?”

“Really,  _ really _ had no idea,” Duke said, a little breathless.

“And now that you know?” Nathan took another step forward, crowding him against the wall

Duke wrapped a hand around the back of Nathan’s neck and drew him in for a hungry kiss.

Nathan refused to let the kiss be hurried, keeping it slow and deliberate and intense until Duke was whining against his lips.  “You look good wearing my shirt,” he told Duke when they broke for air.  “Like you’re showing that you’re mine.  I like the way it looks on you.  I like that you smell like both of us.”

“Jesus, Nate, where’d you lean to talk like that?” Duke wrapped his arms around Nathan’s waist to pull him closer.

Nathan just smirked.  “Know what else would look good?”

“What’s that?” Duke grinned eagerly, flexing his hands in Nathan’s back pockets.

“Your lips wrapped around my dick.  That something you wanna show me?”

“Hell yes,” Duke groaned, sliding gracefully to his knees.  “You gonna watch the whole time?”

“Damn right.  You’re gonna put on a nice show for me, right?”

“Best you ever saw,” Duke promised with a grin.  Keeping his hands on Nathan’s thighs, he set about undoing Nathan’s fly with just his lips and tongue and teeth.

“Talented,” Nathan commented, his hard length twitching eagerly.  Interesting, Duke thought, since Nathan couldn’t feel it.

“Oh, I got lots of talent,” Duke smirked.  “Lucky you.”

“I really am,” Nathan agreed, pulling out Duke’s hair tie and running his fingers through the silky dark brown locks.

Duke did use his hands to pull Nathan’s pants and underwear out of the way so that he could get to work enthusiastically.  Nathan made a soft breathless little noise, watching him raptly.

Duke swirled his tongue around the head, glancing up to check Nathan’s reaction.  Shivering at Nathan’s intent look, he placed a line of wet open-mouthed kisses along the hard shaft, then traced patterns with his tongue all the way back up it.

“You  _ do _ know how to put on a hell of a show,” Nathan said breathlessly, his fingers restlessly combing through Duke’s hair.

“Pride myself on it,” Duke murmured, so close to the hot skin that his breath ghosted across the wet skin, earning another twitch. 

“Show me more,” Nathan asked eagerly.

“Greedy,” Duke said teasingly.  Even so, he wrapped his lips around Nathan’s length and slowly sank down until his nose was buried among the coarse curls at the base of the shaft.

“You look amazing, Duke,” Nathan told him, pupils blown wide with lust.

Duke looked up at Nathan through his lashes as he began to suck, hollowing his cheeks.  He decided to add some dimension to the visual display and gave a deep moan, letting the sound vibrate around his mouthful.

Nathan made a choked little noise, moving his hands to Duke’s shoulders and gripping tightly.

Duke would have smirked, had he been able.  Instead he did it again, this time reaching up to caress Nathan’s balls.

Nathan gave a shout as his climax hit, spilling his seed down the back of Duke’s throat.

Duke swallowed it and let the softening flesh slowly slip out of his mouth with an obscene wet pop.

Nathan sank down beside him with a deep, satisfied sigh.  “I couldn’t even feel that and it was amazing,” he mumbled.

Duke chuckled.  “Ah, but now it’s time for the pop quiz.  How much of what I just did do you remember?  Judging will be based on your performance replicating the results.”

Nathan snorted.  “If you wanted me to return the favor, you could just ask.  The answer is yes, by the way.  So long as you leave the shirt on.”

**

The next time poker  night came around, Nathan snagged one of the sweaters Duke had left lying around and put it on.  When Duke gave him a questioning look, Nathan said “It’s cold out,” and smirked, daring Duke to call him on it.

Duke just laughed.  “Now I know why you liked it so much when I wore your shirt.”

 


	17. Sick Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duke gets sick & tries to go about his day as usual; Audrey & Nathan are unamused.

Duke hadn’t thought much of it when he woke feeling more tired than usual, with a slightly scratchy throat.  He shrugged it off and went about taking care of the Rouge, frowning as the cold seemed to bother him more than usual.  By the time he headed over to the Gull to start prepping for the dinner crowd, he felt exhausted, ached dully all over, and he’d developed a cough.

He sat down in the office to look over the specials menu for the evening, since even the short walk in from parking lot had been tiring.  He was trying to encourage himself to get up again when Tracy came in.  “Hey, Tracy.  Good lunch crowd?”

“Not too bad, we – “ Tracy paused and looked at him more closely.  She went over and placed a hand on his forehead, to Duke’s puzzlement. 

“Tracy?  What are you doing?”

“You look terrible, and you have a fever.  Go home and get some rest, and don’t come back until you’re better,” Tracy said firmly.

“What?  No, I’m not sick.  I don’t get sick.  I’ve been out in all weathers my whole life, my immune system is supercharged.”

“Well, you’re sick now.  Which means you shouldn’t be preparing anyone’s food.”

“Tracy, c’mon, I’m fine, I’m just flushed from being out in the cold,” Duke protested.

Tracy rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, dialing a number and waiting for it to ring.  “Audrey, hi.  Sorry to bother you but could you please come downstairs for a minute?  Duke’s being troublesome.  Yeah, thanks.”

Duke glared halfheartedly.  “That’s playing dirty.”

Tracy just grinned and went about prepping for the dinner rush.

A minute later Audrey showed up, took one look at Duke, and frowned.  “Duke, what are you doing out of bed?”

“What?  What do you mean what am I doing out of bed?  I have a restaurant to run!”

“Not while you’re sick, you don’t.  Even setting aside your personal well-being, that’s all kinds of health violations.”  Duke opened his mouth to protest, and she gave him a stern look.  “Don’t make me call in an inspection.”

“Why do all the women in my life play dirty?” Duke all but whined.

“Because you’re too stubborn to see common sense,” Audrey patted him on the shoulder.  “Come on, we’re going upstairs.  You’re going to get in bed and stay there until you feel better.  Tracy, can you make something up for him?  Some soup maybe?  I’ll send Nathan down to pick it up in a bit.”

“Seems like a fair exchange for you keeping him out of our hair until he’s better,” Tracy grinned.

“Thanks, Tracy.  Come on, you,” Audrey smiled at Duke.

Duke sighed and followed her upstairs.  He knew when he was beaten.

The single story’s worth of stairs seemed like Mount Everest before he reached the top, and he went into the apartment and sat on Audrey’s bed without protest.

Nathan got up from the couch and came over, frowning.  “You look like hell warmed over.”

“Thank you for that assessment,” Duke grumbled, then coughed harshly.

“What possessed you to even come to work in that state?” Nathan griped, even as he knelt down to pull off Duke’s boots. 

“Little thing called making a living,” Duke told him, allowing Audrey to coax him into lying down.  “I’m not sick, I’m just tired.”

“Like hell,” Nathan said, piling blankets on top of him.  Duke realized he was shivering, which was strange given how he’d spent the morning felt like he was burning up.  Now he felt like he’d never be warm again.

“I don’t get sick,” he insisted weakly.  “I’m too tough for that crap.”

“Pathogens don’t care about toughness,” Audrey said over her shoulder as she made tea.  “There’s been a really nasty flu going around, you’ll probably be out of commission for a while.  I’m sure Tracy and everyone can keep the Gull going just fine.”

Duke frowned and tried to sit up.  “If I have the flu – and I’m not saying I do – I should go back to the Rouge so I don’t get you sick.”

“We’d be just as likely to get sick taking care of you there,” Nathan pointed out, sterilizing a thermometer.

“No, I meant by myself.  A quarantine.”

“If you think for one minute that we’d let you fight through influenza on your own, then you’re having hallucinations from the fever,” Audrey told him as she added honey and lemon to the tea.

Duke opened his mouth to protest, only to have Nathan slip the thermometer in his mouth.  “Hold that under your tongue and keep your mouth closed until it beeps,” he instructed.  “Audrey’s right, we wouldn’t leave you to suffer through this all alone.  Especially since you apparently have no idea how to take care of yourself when you’re sick. I bet you spent the morning working on the Rouge or something, didn’t you?”

Duke glared and grumbled, but couldn’t say anything with his mouth closed on the thermometer.

Nathan grinned.  “If this is what it takes to keep you from arguing, maybe I should leave that in there.”

Duke flipped him off.  Nathan just chuckled, and when the thermometer beeped he pulled it out.  “One-hundred point two.  You have a fever.”

“Looks like you’re officially sick,” Audrey said sympathetically, bringing the tea over.  She smoothed the hair back from his forehead and pressed a soft kiss to the heated skin.  “But don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.  You just rest and focus on getting better.”

Duke closed his eyes with a sigh.  It was a lie that he never got sick, but his approach had always been to simply keep going until whatever it was went away.  It wasn’t like being a petty criminal came with sick days, after all, and the captain and sole occupant of a seagoing vessel couldn’t simply leave the helm to go cuddle up in bed nursing a cold.  Even when the Rouge was docked, he kept going simply because he had to – everything from ship maintenance to basic chores still needed doing, and there was no one else to take care of things if he didn’t.  The idea of taking time off to just rest and recover was foreign to him, the idea of having someone else around to take care of things while he did was even more so, and the idea of someone taking care of  _ him _ was strangest of all.

But he was finally starting to feel warm again, and Audrey’s hands were gently running through his hair, and the little sips of tea Nathan was coaxing him to take soothed his raw throat.  His limbs still felt leaden and he still ached all over, but the bed was soft and maybe, just maybe, it was okay to close his eyes and rest.

Just for a little bit.


	18. Playing It Straight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan and Duke play strip poker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> drunken but consensual sex

“It’s not fair,” Duke grumbles as he stripped off his last shirt.  “I’m supposed to be the poker shark here, your stone face is just cheating.  How can you be that blank after half a bottle of whiskey?”

Nathan considered that gravely though the fuzz of alcohol.  “You got me drunk to win at cards?”

“Figured it was worth a shot.”  Duke shrugged.  He was really wishing he hadn’t gone commando – the worn old jeans were all that was left between him and the open air.

“You drank too.”

“I hold my liquor better than you.”

“You’re still drunk.”

“Sure, sure, I’m drunk, whatever you say,” Duke chuckled.  Nathan had a point – he won’t completely blitzed but he was feeling good, warm and happy and loose.  “Not as drunk as that time we played ‘I’ve never’ at the graduation party.”

“Good.  Thought we were gonna have to have your stomach pumped for alcohol poisoning.”

“You were stone cold sober, though.  Never did anything fun.”

“Yeah…” Nathan ran his eyes over Duke’s chest.  “Kinda regretting that.”

Duke blinked.  Nathan wasn’t….he couldn’t be checking him out.  Nah.  Must just be really drunk.  He shook his head and dealt the next round.  Inwardly, he groaned at his hand.  The only way he’d win this was by bluffing outrageously.

“Piece of advice,” Nathan told him a few minutes later, laying down his winning cards.  “Never bluff when you’re drunk, it’s completely obvious.”

Duke grimaced.  Damn Nathan.  Damn himself for making that joke about strip poker, and damn them both for never backing down from a challenge. 

Well, if he was going to do this, he might as well make ol’ Nate as uncomfortable as hell.  He grinned wickedly and began humming a tune straight out of a porno, running his hands down his bare chest and arching his hips as he played with the button of his pants.

Nathan’s eyes looked about ready to fall out of his head.

Smirking at his success, Duke continued his little striptease dance as he slipped the button free and slowly, so slowly, inched down the zipper.  He grinned at Nathan’s little strangled sound and turned away before anything was visible, shaking his ass as he inched the soft denim down over it.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Nathan reached out and grabbed a handful of his freshly bared flesh.  He spun around, pants falling to his knees.  “Nate?!”

Nathan very blatantly looked him over.  “Were you just teasing?” he asked, visibly disappointed.

Duke’s jaw worked for a minute before he could make any sound come out.  “Nate, you are very, very drunk.”

“Not that drunk,” Nathan shook his head.  “Just enough to have the guts to do what I should have a long time ago.”  He stood and approached Duke.  “Tell me no, and I won’t lay a finger on you.  But we don’t have to stop, if you want this too.”

Duke felt breathless at Nathan’s intent look, his deliberate approach.  “Nate, if you’re gonna regret this in the morning, we’d better not.”

“If I do, have Audrey kick my ass for being a moron.  And you can have her tell me that drunk me instructed you to do it, too.”

Duke didn’t have a chance to reply before Nathan’s mouth was on his, and after that he really, really didn’t want to.  Nathan made up with enthusiasm what he lacked in experience, crowding Duke up against the wall.  The cool metal on his bare skin contrasted sharply with the heat of Nathan’s body, and he gasped at the sensations.

Nathan pulled back and smirked at him, then began kissing down Duke’s neck, along his collarbones, down his chest.  Duke watched his progress raptly.  Surely Nathan wasn’t planning to…

Nathan sank to his knees and smirked up at Duke, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.  “Haven’t had much experience here, so tell me if I screw it up, all right?”

“Nate, anything short of biting it off is gonna be a win in my book, trust me,” Duke told him. 

He gasped as Nathan took him in his mouth, sucking enthusiastically.  Duke twined his fingers in Nathan’s hair, moaning profanities, eager for more.

Nathan sucked cock much like he kissed, but Duke hardly minded the lack of finesse, not when Nathan was doing his damned to suck his brains out his dick.  It wasn’t long before he was whimpering pleadingly and shoving at Nathan’s shoulders in warning.  Nathan refused to be budged, however, and when Duke shuddered in climax Nathan swallowed around him.

Duke slid down the wall with a dazed groan.  Nathan wiped his mouth, looking way too damned smug.  “I gotta thank Parker for teaching me how to cheat you at poker.”

Duke stared.  He was either going to kiss Audrey or kill her, he wasn’t sure which.


	19. Stupid Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Audrey & Nathan's morning after a very late night

Duke looked up from his newspaper and lifted an eyebrow as Audrey and Nathan stumbled blearily into the kitchen, both still in pajamas and with remarkable cases of bedhead.  “What are you two doing awake?”

Nathan squinted at him, puzzled.  “Work.”

“Gotta get to the station,” Audrey mumbled agreement.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you two didn’t get done with that mess downtown until two am!  You can’t have had more than four hours of sleep, probably more like three.”

“Duty calls,” Nathan muttered, sitting down at the table, looking like he was about to fall asleep sitting up.

“Stupid duty,” Audrey yawned cavernously.  “Stupid mornings.  Stupid everything.”

Duke had to laugh.  “Okay. I am calling the station and telling them that you two are not coming in today.”

“But - ”

“What if - ”

Duke held up a hand to halt their objections.  “If there is an emergency then they can call, but until then you two are going right back upstairs and back to bed.”

Audrey and Nathan looked at one another, torn.

“And if you’re good and go back to bed without further argument, then when you finally wake up I will cook you a world class brunch.  Omelets to order, maple bacon, homemade sausage, fresh-squeezed OJ, and obviously pancakes,” Duke added.

Audrey and Nathan got up and headed back upstairs, kissing Duke’s cheek on the way past.


	20. Relaxation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan get his first massage post-Troubles

Nathan was late coming back from his double shift, moving stiffly and even quieter than usual. 

“Rough day?” Duke asked.

“Don’t ask,” Nathan grunted, looking irritable.  “Audrey will be here soon, she sent me home while she wrote the report.”

“You actually injured anywhere?” Duke looked him over critically.

“No.  Tired, sore, and hungry.”  He’d never wish the Troubles weren’t gone, but some days he definitely wasn’t a fan of the downsides of being able to feel again.

“Well, dinner will be ready soon, it just needs a little more time in the crockpot.  Come on, I’ll help with the rest,” he gestured for Nathan to follow him into the bedroom.

“I don’t need a nap, Duke.”

“Never said you did.  Take off your shirt and lie on your stomach.”

“I don’t think sex is going to help either,” Nathan smirked.  “Much as I don’t normally mind.”

“Will you just quit your bitching and do what I asked, gutter-brain?” Duke rolled his eyes, rummaging around in the bedside table’s drawer. 

Nathan snorted, but he pulled off his shirt and lay down as instructed, his arms folded on the pillow and his head resting on them.  Duke puttered around for a bit, went into the kitchen and microwaved something, and just when Nathan was wondering if this had been Duke’s way of conning him into a nap, he came back in. 

“All right, just close your eyes and relax, okay?”

Nathan was about to make a biting retort when warm liquid spilled over his back, drawing a gasp.

Duke grinned and spread the heated massage oil out with his hands, working it into Nathan’s skin, keeping his touch light for the moment. 

“What is that stuff?” Nathan wanted to know.  It was slick as well as wet, and there must have been something in it because rather than cooling on his skin it drew a tingling heated sensation.

“Massage oil I picked up in the Maldives.  Nothing better for sore muscles that I’ve found.”  Duke began kneading Nathan’s shoulders in earnest, drawing a low groan from his lover.  He grinned.  “When used in conjunction with an actual massage, that is.”

“Think it might just be that,” Nathan mumbled as Duke worked his way down Nathan’s back.  The long agile fingers were finding and loosening knots in muscles Nathan hadn’t even known he’d had.

“Could be,” Duke chuckled, working back up Nathan’s back and gently pulling his arms free to start his way down them.  “I’m very good at this, or so I’ve been told.”

“If being good at this means leaving the recipient melted into a puddle of mush, then I’d have to agree,” Nathan murmured, turning his face to the side so his words weren’t buried in the pillow.  By all appearances he was working on becoming one with the mattress.

“Falling asleep is a high compliment,” Duke grinned.  He massaged Nathan’s hands, the ball of his thumbs, his palms, down each finger, before working his way back up.

“You’re gonna spoil me.”

“It is my pleasure to spoil you,” Duke smiled.  He slipped a hand between the pillow and Nathan’s face, cradling him in his hand to gently rub his temples, his cheeks, along his jaw.  Nathan gave him a sleepy-eyed look of such quiet adoration that Duke couldn’t help leaning down to kiss him softly.

“Remind me to do this for you,” Nathan murmured as Duke’s long fingers combed through his hair, massaging his scalp.  “Won’t be as good though, sorry.”

“You don’t have to do anything for me,” Duke assured him, kneading the back of his neck.

“Want to,” Nathan said simply, bowing his head to give Duke more room to work.

“You’re sweet,” Duke smiled and kissed Nathan’s cheek as he ran his hands in soothing light circles down Nathan’s back.  “Want me to take your pants off and keep going?”

“Who’s got the gutter brain now?” Nathan asked, even as he nodded and lifted his hips to make it easier for Duke.

“You, if you think that was a sexual proposition,” Duke laughed, pulling Nathan’s pants away from the long, lean legs.  He poured a little more oil in his hands and picked up Nathan’s feet, rubbing his thumbs into the arches and earning a moan that definitely was not at all innocent.

“Can you blame me, when you’re doing that?”

Duke laughed as he continued the thorough foot rub.  “This was supposed to help you relax, not wind you up.”

“As if that’s my fault,” Nathan tried to grumble, but it came out as more of a purr.

“All right, all right, we can save that for later,” Duke chuckled.  He moved on to Nathan’s calves, working his way up.

“If you keep going, that’s not gonna help,” Nathan pointed out.

“Definitely a gutter brain,” Duke grinned, going back to Nathan’s back instead.  “Turning my nice innocent massage into foreplay.”

“….Didn’t mean I wanted you to stop,” Nathan told him.

Duke laughed and went back to working on Nathan’s legs.  Audrey had better get home soon, she was going to love this.

Nathan spread his legs apart so Duke could work on his thighs, and if Duke’s brain hadn’t been in the gutter before, it certainly was now.

“You want me to take your boxers off too?” he asked, a little breathless, his fingertips stroking across the soft skin of Nathan’s inner thigh.

“Definitely,” Nathan arched his hips again, and the position made Duke’s length twitch. 

He pulled the soft cotton off of Nathan’s body, admiring the view.  “Think I found a few more places to massage.”

“Yeah?” Nathan’s voice was laughing, breathless.

Duke cupped Nathan’s ass in his hands, kneading eagerly.  “How about there?  Or maybe…” he slid his hands down, rubbing his thumbs along the crease between the curve of his ass and his thigh.  “A little further down?”

Nathan gave a little gasp, arching into Duke’s hands. 

“Or maybe I should go back to working on your thighs,” Duke murmured, sliding his hands between Nathan’s legs, stroking the skin, so high up that the back of his knuckles brushed teasingly against Nathan’s balls.

“God, Duke,” Nathan groaned.  “Stop teasing.”

“My pleasure,” Duke purred.  Very grateful that he’d tested the massage oil for not-so-innocent purposes and found it to be safe, he poured some between Nathan’s asscheeks and let it trickle down, making Nathan whimper and squirm.  He worked it into the tight ring of muscle, letting his finger slide in easily.

“You make me crazy,” Nathan said breathlessly, rocking back against him.  “Want more.”

“Yeah, okay,” Duke groaned, adding another.  It killed him when Nathan was so eager for this, so open about wanting him.  He stretched Nathan carefully, listening to his lover’s breath, watching his face.  Nathan wasn’t often vocal in bed, so Duke knew to look for other cues to tell him whether his lover was comfortable and enjoying things.

This time, however, Nathan flat-out impatiently told him, “I’m ready, do it.”

“Nate, you’re killing me here,” Duke said, hurriedly slicking himself and lining up.

They both moaned as Duke slid in, Nathan tilting his head back with an expression of pure pleasure and Duke clenching a hand in the sheets.

“Nate, you’re so fucking good, so hot and tight,” Duke panted.  “God, I love fucking you.”

“Then get to it already,” Nathan rocked back against him eagerly.

Duke shuddered, but started moving, slowly at first then picking up the pace.  “Yeah, you want this, don’t you Nate, want to feel my cock in your ass, you love this.”

“Are you trying to make me come too soon?  That fucking mouth on you,” Nathan groaned.

Duke grinned as he reached around to stroke Nathan off.  “You love my fucking mouth.  You love fucking my mouth too, don’t you?  You love when I go down on you, seeing my lips wrapped around your dick, my tongue warm and wet rubbing against you, driving you crazy while I suck you.”

Nathan muffled curses in the pillow, clenching around Duke’s length, loving the way it made Duke gasp and falter in his rhythm.

“God, you’re so fucking good Nate,” Duke panted, biting down on a sensitive spot on Nathan’s neck, watching his body tense in readiness.  “Yeah, you’re close, aren’t you?  You wanna come so bad…”

Nathan groaned Duke’s name, his tone pleading.

Duke shifted his angle to hit a little harder against Nathan’s pleasure, rubbing his thumb over the tip of his length.  “Do it, Nate, come for me.”

Nathan gave a deep groan as he spilled over Duke’s fingers, his body tightening around Duke and drawing out his climax as well.

They slid back down onto the bed together, sticky and sated and deeply content.

Nathan was asleep in moments.

 


	21. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan and Duke get locked in a closet. Duke doesn't take it well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for implied child abuse, claustrophobia

“That went well,” Nathan snorted.  There was barely room to move in the cramped closet, but he twisted around to look at Duke.  “Don’t suppose you’ve got anything on you that’d help us get out of here.”

Duke didn’t answer.  His breathing was fast and harsh, quickening toward hyperventilation.  The tiny sliver of light from the crack between the doors fell across his face, just enough to show one wide eye staring fixedly at the door, pupil hugely dilated with panic.

Nathan raised a hand and cupped Duke’s face, turning him away from the door, toward Nathan.  “Duke.  Talk to me.  What’s going on?”

“I can’t…closets…dad used to… punishment…I can’t, Nate,” Duke gasped desperately.

Nathan felt sick at the story behind those broken words.  “You can, Duke, we’re gonna do this together.  Listen to me, okay, I’ll get you through this.  Close your eyes and just listen to my voice.”  He pulled Duke into his arms, the only way there was room enough for them both to stand without touching the walls.  “Feel my chest rise and fall, match your breathing to mine, okay?”

Duke nodded, hiding his face against Nathan’s neck.  Nathan could feel him shaking in his arms. 

“Now, keep your eyes closed and imagine what I’m telling you, I want you to picture it in your mind, can you do that?”

Another unsteady nod.  Duke was trying to breathe with him, but kept breaking into little panicky gasps.

“You’re not here right now,” Nathan told him.  “You’ve come home to the Rouge, just stepped into the stateroom, everything securely locked up behind you.  Picture it, Duke, see it behind your closed eyes.  You know the Rouge inside and out, you can do that.  You’ve just come home after a long day at the Gull.  It was crowded and busy, so you’re tired, but you’re happy too, because it’s good for business.  You’ve had days like that, you remember how it feels.  Feel that now.”

Another small nod, and Duke’s breathing was less rapid and shallow now, the trembling fading.  Nathan rubbed Duke’s back in slow, soothing circles.

“Good.  It was a good day but you’re glad to be home, your home, safe and comfortable.  You’re just standing there relaxing, thinking about the food you brought back from the Gull for dinner, thinking about the book you’ll curl up with later on the couch, thinking about the things you need to do for the Rouge on your day off tomorrow.  Tell me about that, Duke.  Tell me what you’re having for dinner, tell me about the book, tell me about the Rouge.”

Duke began speaking, still a little shaky at first but evening out as he let himself get fully invested in the fantasy, the walls around them fading from his mind.  His lean body slowly began to relax against Nathan.

Audrey would be there soon enough to get them out, Nathan was confident.  In the meantime, he would get Duke through this.


End file.
